1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of virtual machines, and more particularly to hot pluggable virtual machines.
2. Description of Related Art
Virtual machines allow a computer to simultaneously support and execute two or more computing environments. A computer environment comprises the operating system as well as user applications and data. A virtual machine is configured to emulate computing resources such as CPU, disk, and memory from a host computer and co-exist alongside the host computer as a guest computer.
Due to a large software footprint, current virtual machines can not be easily transported from one host computer to another host computer. Unfortunately, the installation and operation of a virtual machine within a host environment may significantly alter the host environment and associated file system (e.g., installation of files on the computer to execute the virtual machine.) If the virtual machine is transported to a different host environment without the installation of necessary files, the virtual machine may not function since necessary files and resources may not be present within the operating system or hardware of the host environment. As a result, each computer may be significantly altered by the execution of a portable virtual machine.
As such, there exists a need for a portable virtual machine that may depend on access to required files without significantly altering the host computer or host environment. Further, there exists a need for the resources on the guest computer to be isolated from the resources on the host computer, and vice-versa, to reduce the effect of the virtual machine on the host environment.